Death

Im starting to see death more and more as I grow older.

My first experience was when I was 7. It was a boy named Tommy. See Tommy was special, he was born deformed and could barely walk, speak, and really interact with others. Tommy kept getting cancer. It just wouldn't stop. It would go away for awhile and just comeback again. One day cancer finally took Tommy and when it was my turn to go see him at his casket I just stared at him. I didnt know what to do or really say I was just a kid ya know? Should I laugh or should I cry?

After time I figured out people just kept dying. From car accidents, old age, and illness.

Then the major death of a well known student in highschool over took our community and it was the same emotion, I didnt know what to do or say

Next my sister, a coworker, a friends mother.....it just kept happening and then on the night where a close friends father passed it hit me. Death sucks....but its apart of life.....its the cycle.....I may not understand it...but for strange reason I will celebrate it...... it reminded me how special life really is and how I owe it to that person to celebrate them and myself.....here is what I posted on facebook that summons up how I felt......

Oh life how you confuse me. As we celebrate friendship, shed tears,dance and grieve the night away may we embrace the love that is here and now. I will dance and drink this last one is for you

marrwage

8.Being married is awesome ...hard sometimes 

but awesome 

So this is a tough one. I can remember when kris and I started talking to me and day three he told me he was going to marry me and my response was "good for you".  Kris is my best friend. I could never ask for a better life partner. He makes me laugh, happy, cry, and want to be a better person

the times where we watch tv, go to the bar, and hang out with friends and go on vacation are amazing. i enjoy his company. there are also times where we disagree, we do stupid things, and frankly are assholes to each others. Life happens ,jobs change, people die, lies over take the relationship. 

even after the bad ......the good means so much more. I look forward to growing old together, paying off our house, living life with family friends and others. 

he is my best friend, nerd in crime, and beer buddy. being married is hard, but awesome all in one.

A toast

This year I got the amazing chance to be apart of my best friends wedding. They have been together for more than 10 years. My best friend has taught me a lot. She's taught me to stick with it even when it's hard, laugh at yourself, and its ok to be werid.

Here is my speech I shared at their wedding:
Speech

I'm Nanette the moh how bout that ride in?

Cassie and I have known each other almost 15 years now (crazy right) how would we ever know that mrs menyards gym class would be the start of a beautiful friendship. 

Now most speeches would move to the how they met ,followed by a funny story about how the two were destined to be or ...threaten Brandon to take care of my bbf or else and end on a marriage or love quote from a song lyric or the bible. But not this speech. I see today not as the end of one chapter to start another but rather as a continuation of an amazing story 

 Over the years Cassie and I  have laughed, cried, set things on fire, fought, made up, stayed up all night,slapped each other,had near death experiences, made mix tapes, looked forward to growing up, lost loved ones, changed hair styles, bought puppies and found love. So now as we continue on our journey in this story,I will say this about your marriage.....may it be blessed. It will be hard, but worth it. There is no perfect formula to a marriage. It's what works for the both of you. It's listening to pointless stories about each others day, extra hugs and kisses, enjoying each others company and embracing each others  hurts habits and hang ups. Brandon and Cassie may the love you have for each other grow stronger everyday day, and be the one thing you always come back to when times get tough,  and be infectious to others around you. To Cassie and Brandon let the good times roll 

:)

fix you

The way to fix loneliness is to reach out to others 

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I've learned that people are not mind readers and we must communicate what we need. Most of the time we get upset because our expectations were violated and we do not assume positive intent. The first thing we must do and this is in all aspects of life really is:

1. Be honest and i mean really honest

no one is a mind reader. you have to be specific and to the point. you cant say one thing and mean another.  If someone hurts your feelings say it. If you don't get it say it. This first step becomes so easy if we do number 2

2. assume positive intent 

you have to see the good in people. you say "you know what that person did not wake up this morning and plot on how to piss me off today." They just didn't plain and simple. If you are at work, church, or at home you have to understand that maybe you are not on the same page . Then get there by talking to one another! What ever you are doing in life you have to know that you are working toward a common goal. You both want to get to this goal you just have different ways of getting there.

3. forgive

we all screw up from time to time and the last thing we need is to feel cut down even more. The best thing to do is move past the issues and more forward in love. 

To fix loneliness is about communication. Reach out, going to guarantee  there are folks out there that are just as lonely as you.  You have to take the first step

  

The light in the cave

Light in darkness
I John 1:5-7

⁵ This, in essence, is the message we heard
from Christ and are passing on to you:
God is light, pure light; there’s not a trace of darkness in him.

^6-7 If we claim that we
experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark,
we’re obviously lying through our teeth—we’re not living what we claim.
But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purges all our sin.

My brain works like this when I'm reading.
 Light and think light in darkness 
I've seen that light is cool. Light shows. 
There's an Emmy award for that. 
So weird that there's an award for that. 
Light creates shadows. shadow puppets. 
How does that work? Google "how stuff works.com" 
to figure out how light works. 

Light is strange. It's something that is 
obvious and yet mysterious.
We see glimmers of its affects in rainbows, 
as its beams filter thru the curtains, 
when the sunrise reflects all over the pavement. 
 As we enjoy the light and 
start studying it there are only more questions. 
It would be easy to assume 
scientist have it all figured out 
but it's funny you should say that 

Example We've always taken for granted that light 
travels faster than anything 
in the universe. Then, in 1999, 
researchers at Harvard University were able to 
slow a beam of light down to 38 miles an hour 
(61 kilometers per hour) by 
passing it through a state of matter known 
as a Bose-Einstein condensate. That's 
almost 18 million times slower than normal!
 No one would have thought such a 
feat possible just a few years ago,
 yet this is the capricious way of light. 
Just when you think you have it figured out, 
it defies your efforts and seems to 
change its nature. But it hasn't light is consistent 
but our understanding changes. (howstuffworks.com)

John does this amazing thing where
 he compares being with god to light.  
Making the efforts to show us that just as
 light burst through darkness so does god and 
makes it possible to be with him in light
 to see what Christ has done for us. we 
can see better in the light.  
when i was younger we went to the canyon and we got 
to go into caves and its pitch black
...im sure youve done this too. 
i mean really dark where you cant see your own 
hand in front of your face no matter how hard
 you try but as you trip over rocks, 
hear bats, and grab ahold of your dads hand  
you continue to take steps out of 
the cave and one stream of light beams through
 a pinhole above you and helps you to 
see a fuzzy image of what you know is your hand. 

 Its like when we are with Christ
 when we walk in the light as he is in the light 
we see things clearer. 
We begin to recognize his light in us,  we begin to see 
that the love he poured out to us 
is to be poured out on others, we begin to see 
the kingdom beginning to come to earth. 
so the story continues 


As we discover God  in the light and it exposes
 what is there may we grab onto 
his hand and trip over rocks as we move towards the light. 
May we share his love 
that he has poured onto us as we continue
 to see the kingdom here and now in those moments.  
may we be apart of the story as it continues 

You were born this way

I was recently inspired by lady gaga and her song born this way. The message of the beauty from with in in fantastic, it is like my husband says he wants to make you a better you. He doesn't want to take away from how he created you he wants to change how you are you.

He made us perfect. Not to say that we aren't messed up. But the scripture says we were made in his image lets look Gen 1:26-27

26 Then God said, o“Let us make man8 in our image, pafter our likeness. And qlet them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 

 27  So God created man in his own image, 

in the image of God he created him; 

rmale and female he created them. 

28 And God blessed them.

When we think about an image it may be a photograph that's captures a moment that takes you back to all the sights and sounds of that experience. Or maybe a reflection in the mirror that causes you to notice intercet details. Or maybe like a pair of prescription glasses that causes images to become clearer. And when you look at these images they have qualities about them.  A still image can capture truths, emotions, and ideas. When god created mankind he did just that he made us part of an experience that we can share with others to pull together all the sights and sounds of what love feels like,he made us a  reflection of his spirit that love always wins and people matter. He made us those lenses to help others see clearer that there is hope and purpose even though it may seem blurry and distorted.

Both male and female perfections can be seen in his image. The qualities of both should be embraced in the image in which we were created. Every person has that. Now unfortunately because of sin it damages that pure reflection that we all have of Christ. So we have to fight and make conscience decisions to be the reflection he created us to be.

Its like the photograph that was taken and over time wear and tear, sunlight, moisture give it that filmy overlay where you cant make out the original image snapped by the camera. Those feelings of not being good enough or making mistakes start to distort the image that god created us in and becomes this discolored, fragile photo in need of restoration. So how can we help each other to restore the image and share with others they are on the right track? It will take all of us committed to standing up for love. Keeping connected to faith when the image starts to become fade.

We as people, no labels, as people have masked the image of that god has put in us...we did that....but we can change that. That is the beauty of the story. That we as people, reunited with Christ can brush off the dust and smooth out the winkles of the photo. 
And we will see that the details,small flaws, and the way the light depicted certain angles that those were the things that made the photo so precious. You were born this way.

Love of the pups

Words can't begin to describe how much I love my dogs. I've known since I was young that I didn't want kids. But I do have a  very fuzzy family. Yes, we have 4 dogs. It's great they don't argue back, don't shame the family name, and I don't have to pay for college. They love me no matter what. They are sad when Im sad and happy when I'm happy. I love waking up with those 4 snuggle bums next to me. It sums it up best what my roommate said to someone who asked why we have 4 dogs....its because I cant have 5!

Hubert Cumberdale-5 old cranky man who should wear a monocle
Albert Neederman-4 smart, strong in charge
Sir William Wilberforce III-4 Mexican ninja with a surly attitude
Charles Kimbertin-1.5 the biggest puddle, scared of everything so sweet

love my boys.

Show love

1john 4:7-12

Have you ever been sitting outside on your front porch on a hot day and you have a breeze brush over your face or on the beach and the wind comes rushing over your skin. It feels good doesn't it? Or even this week while driving in the van.  It's  cool and refreshing.  You can't see it but you can feel it. Do you remember a time when you saw a child open a gift on gift on Christmas morning and as they tear the paper the beams of joy gleams across  their face. You can see the  affects of emotion...joy.  It's the same as the passage is talking about that no one has seen God, but people have seen the affects of Him and his goodness. It says God is love and that is how we are to be known. by the same love that God has shown us.

 So as we go out and love others, as they are ,no strings attached ( because thats what christ did for us while were yet still in sin christ loved us) let us exhibit the qualities of the love of Christ.  So as you have conversations may you feel refreshed with uplifting words as you share in each others lives. As you dig ditches, tell children stories, and pray about the day may we be overwhelmed with Christ love for you and for others. And as we bring fresh water to these people may we also bring the amazing hope and love that god has given us.

 Because you can't physically hold it in your hands but you can feel it. We have the amazing opportunity to share hope with others that everyone gets a chance to be apart of he kingdom and God doesn't want anyone to be shut out from his love. So as we work,play and pray this week, and even as we go back to our homes may we reflect gods love and may we be the cool breeze that brushes up against others.

the smoker

I'm a smoker. Like a stress smoker. The good news is that I only smoke during holiday. One pack. I make that sucker last. I'm not sure if it's really stress or the holidays or what it is.  I will break it up in the following:
1. Mall traffic
2. Weather
3. People's attitudes
4. The amount of hours I work (70+)
5. The mass amounts of food around me

These may or may not be the reasons why I choose to smoke during the holiday which run oct 31-jan 7. I don't know what started it  but the last 3 years I've done it and I dont feel bad. I know that I can stop and  maybe I'm just too lazy to smoke all year around and it's hot in the summer.

So tis the season

Naps

4.Naps and being in bed at 9pm are a blessing 

When I was a little girl i hated taking naps. Why take a 
nap when I could be doing other things, 
like pretending to live in the juggle(aka playing in the 
huge trees in my 
backyard while the sprinkler was on) or tv to be watched, 
or a fort to build.
 I hated naps. I felt
like I could get so much more done. 
Same with going to bed early. 
Wasnt sleepy so why just lay there? 

Now its a whole other story. 
I freaking love naps. Settling down for bed at 
about 930pm is most of my nights. 
I guess I realized that its
 not about a waste of time, but 
getting more rest makes me 
better for those moments that I am awake.
 I sleep much better since 
Ive made the choice to eat better and work out. 
So now my rest is more restful.

Naps are precious. Rest is fuel. 
Life is meant to be experienced awake!

I dont like seafood

Its true. I wish I did. I really do. Since red meat is not my biggest fan it would be great to like some other protein other than chicken. I do however enjoy fish IF it is cooked right. The only place I like to eat fish has been this great little place by the ocean in Mexico. Red snapper with potato puree mmmm I can taste it now. I really don't know if it's the taste, the presentation, the texture, or a combination of everything. I know seafood is supposed to be healthier than red meat, but I just can't bring myself to to love it. So, no fried shrimp, sushi, or fillet for me (unless im in Mexico)

So this was an easy one. Well here is  to when in Mexico!